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ZOMG they posted it!

they posted my owl tattoo on the owl tattoo website!

linky

i'm "famous" LOL

I love doilies

check out my latest doily. If I ever get around to blocking this puppy, it will look awesome! It took nearly a whole skein of no. 10 thread, and it's the first one I've ever hooked that had pieces (the three middle motifs are done separately and joined as you go.) It's rough on my hands but I like working with thread.

my tattoo, let me show you it

hey check me out

I made myself a kickass beret, with Mmmmmmalabrigo yarn in the Lettuce colorway.

so soft and comfy, I'm on the verge of looking cool.

OK enough knitting for me, it's on to gifts for others for Xmas!

Just knittin' away

I finally finished the back of my Inverness sweater. It's really helped that I'm only keeping this project only in the living room, so I can't get distracted.


pretty purple! so far, despite how long it's taking, I am enjoying knitting for me. I used to make sweaters all the time & I forgot how much fun (albeit slow) it is.

I also started on some random sox, mostly because we were going to see Wolverine at the movies a couple of weeks ago, and I needed a project for in the theater. I'm sooooo tired of random dishcloths, so I grabbed this Patons Kroy Sock that I'd picked up on clearance.

I'm really hoping sock #2 looks as good. I bought my 2 balls on separate occasions-- I had thought I would do a small pair with just one ball, and changed my mind when I found it clearanced-- so I have a legit concern. Just as well I didn't go for the one-ball pair, because the yardage wouldn't have allowed for even a pair of anklets.

They're working up quickly and looks good, though you probably can't tell from the picture because it's blurry. I blame the camera for this one!

hellloooo!

still alive, after all! doing doilies like a grandma, yo! (this one's actually done, i've got to block it, if i can find enough pins.)

things going semi-swimmingly at work; vurry bizzy, but everyone is. i'm doing extra work, which may or may not work against me come eval/raise time. since i'm not getting as much regular work done, i look worse than everyone statistically, but i'm also doing a vital function that if i DIDN'T do, the place would fall apart. i'm prepared to defend myself!

kids are great, and i'm crocheting my ass off. i'm hanging out with some peeps from work and they're all croceters, so i'm concentrating on that for now. i've almost got a blanket for afghans for afghans done. i'd post pix of my progress but my camera is ded, und we've got no batteriez in the house. suxxors

last post for 2008

and what a craptastic year it was! i had surgery on my wrist, suffered through a shitty job, LOST said job, turned 40, and gave up librarianship.

on the plus side, i got 2 decent jobs over the fall, and may have embarked on a new career in the banking industry. i'll never make the kind of $$ i was as a professional, but nobody is, thanks to the economy and THANKS GEORGE BUSH don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.

i'm choosing to see the job loss/40 turning NOT as a door closing, but as a new opportunity. i've been in libraries for 18-20 years, and the profession is moving in new directions, and frankly, I don't give a crap.

i was tired of it, and I SWEAR I AM NOT JUST SAYING THAT because i was forced out. i had wondered, over the years, is this what i'm going to do for the rest of my life? thanks to shortsighted money-grubbing evil bosses, and a stunning lack of jobs in the industry, the answer is NO. and it's a good thing.

so here's to 2009! and here's how i know it will be better. see my inauguration scarf-- made as part of a swap, to celebrate the soon-to-be Obama presidency.



his election has made me hopeful, for the first time in a year. not just that we might get out of the economic mess we find ourselves in, but also that we can get past stoopid racial shit and elect the best person for the job. yes we can, indeed!

oh yeh know, not up to much. made a carrot for the kid's halloween costume, just made up a patternless doohickey


finally finished that blanket i've been workin' on since july, yay me


bought a pompom maker. it makes AWESOME pompoms, i will have to get more sizes, like the little ones and the great big one. this is the medium. or was it large? it's like 3".

new Sox

Ooops, has it been a month since I've posted?



Ain't it pretty? It's Berroco Sox, 1477 Kingston colorway. I just fell in love with the greens and blues in the skein, but it's even better knit up. There are so many other things I've got in progress/should be working on, but these little beauties jumped the queue.

Only 2 weeks until the election. I want to vote early, so as not to have to wait in line for hours. Turnout is predicted to be HEAVY. I don't want to miss my chance to make history. Oh Yes We Can! LOLlerskates.

swappy goodness

check out the cool stuff i got from my swap partner from Australia!

so many x-rated goodies, and some freakin' awesome silk yarn. I'm going to make a shawl (there's a pattern included... Icarus shawl, that I've wanted to make for like a year and a half.) Ellbell is an awesome twatweasel!

Finished the test hat

Really cute! I have to put the pompom on yet.
I really like the Amherst Valley yarn.

And I started my first lace project ever, Branching Out, from Knitty:
fuzztastic! I'm actually about 13" in to it now. I had to get some new needles, because working with laceweight mohair presents some challenges that my old needles couldn't cope with. I think I could get addicted to making lace, though... dangerous!

I used to be a better blogger

I was looking over some old posts, trying to clean things up (just for you, Mom! ha, ha!) and gosh, I used to be a lot better at keeping track of my projects here. I think Ravelry has really snarfed up all that time and energy.

So in the interest of keeping this a knit/crochet blog, here's a picture of yarn!
that will (hopefully) soon become a cute hat. I've agreed to test-knit a pattern for a Rav person. I let Nick pick the yarn; I was gonna go with Paton's Classic Merino, but he picked this swankier Amherst Valley. The kid has expensive tastes. Good thing I got it as a freebie!

Anyways, I think I'd better use this space for to keep better track of my knitting/crochet. Rav lets me keep track of my WIPs and FOs, but not my nebulous future plans. So here's some of the things I've got yarn for but haven't started:

Chunky hat from some homespun I got in a trade
Crochet squares for a blanket for a Rav friend
Crocheted sweater for Afghans for Afghans
Another BYOB, in an orange color
Amigurumi animals/creatures for Dennis and the kids
Tunisian crochet scarf from some pricey bamboo
Honest to god sweater, once again repurposing my Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Baby blanket for Mindy's future kid (due... October? maybe?)
Ornaments from crochet thread

ugh, I'm going to stop there. The list is so long I'm getting anxious! I will concentrate instead on stuff I've actually started, if I can get a couple of things done I'll feel better:

Nick's blanket
Purple/green socks
Barney in a blender socks
Yosemite sweater

so many. must buckle down.

kermit was wrong, it's real easy being green!

It all started with a desire to get something my LSG swap partner would like. I went to the yarnmarket.com warehouse and acquired:


(hmmm, that looks a little fuzzy. well good! don't want swappy partner figuring out what she's getting!) She likes green. Cool. It inspired me to make my next project, a Tunisian crochet scarf, in a greeny colorway. I found some SWTC Bamboo in the Midori colorway:

And as long as I was all the way out to Pickerington, I figured I'd pick up a color of Cashmerino Aran I hadn't seen before:

OK, OK I'll admit it, I was swept up in GREEN FEVER. I mean, dammit, I buy so much purple stuff, surely I should branch out?

So I started planning a Branching Out. Which meant I needed more yarn.

In green.

all done bringin' my own bag

My BYOB turned out purty. I think I effed up the bottom tho... the curved edge of the bottom is under the handles, and all the other pictures i've seen have the curved edge, you know, under the edges. What-EVAR. It will still hold stuff so who cares? Plus I finished it, unlike many other things I'm working on, LOL

happy b-day dennis

hubster's b-day was today. Actually, yesterday since it's after midnight here and all. He joins me in the 40's, muahhahhah.

And is this not the cutest thing evar?

my new kitten Miley models my BYOB. She's a sweetie, but I forgot how obnoxious kittens can be. For example, she's attacking my leg this minute, and the curtains, and my ice cream dish. It's the Kittening Hour, aka the Hour of Scampering.

what i'm up to

applyin' for unemployment next monday, suck

gettin' (maybe) a temp job thru OCLC, which makes me sad, because i wanted to work there permanently, but any port in a storm

gettin' a phat check from old employer, covering my vacay days (woot)

missin' my kids, they're at my mom's for a few days

goin' out to supper wit' da hubbs, to our fave italian place i think

workin' on the BYOB bag from Summer Knitty:

colors so purty, we lovez it. i like working with cottonease, i think it would make a great sweater. it sez it's worsted but it's a thin worsted, so subbing it into a pattern will be a bear.

next week will be better. I have a phone interview for a part-time gig, and the OCLC interview. just a bit sad right now, i lost out on a pretty cool job today. wish i had mad excel skilz, i mighta coulda done it! whatevs.

going stash crazy

Yeah. I may have a bit of a problem.

I may be slightly addicted to cotton yarn.

But I can quit any time I want to.

Oh fergitaboutit, I give in. Hey, I need these buttloads of yarn! I've got market bags to make, and a Tardis bag for Dennis, and towels and washcloths, and, uh, geez I could probably crochet a bridge across the Olentangy River with all this cotton. I'm hoping this sees me through my unemployment phase, 'cuz I knit and crochet fast, yo.

LSG bracelet swap

Behold my awesome friendship bracelets! I have embraced my inner 12 year old! Yes, the upper one says "TWAT". It's an LSG thang, yo. It's kinda subtle in case my swap partner wants to wear in in public or something...

The bottom one is a chevron style in electric blue, teal, plum and dark grey. I'm tempted to make one for myself in these colors.

Also, I enclosed a little sumpthin' sumpthin' in the envelope-- a cute kitty bookmark, in keeping with the theme of "things that will fit in a small padded mailer":

I hope my swap partner likes it-- I had very few clues to go on-- she's only got a few projects listed on Ravelry and no blog GASP!

These bracelets are fun. I've promised one to Miss Margo in her favorite colors of purple and pink. Think I'll leave off the dirty words tho ;P ;P

Not much new to report

except I lost my job (no big deal, right?) I would rant on about it, but I'm pretty much over it. I'm getting 2 more paychecks and actively looking for something else. The best prospect is a part time cataloger, and I hope for my kids' sakes, I get it. I can work while they're at school. Crossing fingers, toes, and all dangling extremities that it works out!

I've finally gotten around to updating my stash also. One of these is a pretty purple sock yarn I got in my Purple Swap, the other is an LSG exclusive from an indie dyer on Rav:


Love 'em muchly. I am SO going to have to get a swift or ballwinder. Or, an office chair and my own hands might work (price is right.)

Also I'm finally knitting/crocheting after a month since my wrist surgery. I'm working on a Waving Lace sock, and starting a dishtowel in P&C Key Lime colorway. I've made a metric buttload of dishrags, I thought I might try something towel sized for a change. Now that I'm UNemplOYED I've got LOADS of time to craft.

Probably the ONLY good thing about being a slacker...Margo is very happy to have me home. She told me today that she doesn't want me to get another job. Mostly 'cuz she hates to be babysat by her aunt (and her boy cousins drive her crazy) but I have to say it's an ego boost to be so loved. I don't deserve such a wonderful daughter ::sniff, sniff::